Chapter 239 General Direction

Zhang Zuolin, who was born with a beard, was ruthless when it came to things, but he was extremely cautious in fighting. Neville asked the special operations division to advance as fast as possible, but Zhang Zuolin didn't buy it at all. The vanguard group was in front, ten kilometers away from the brigade, and another battalion was released to support it.

In the front, two kilometers away from the vanguard regiment, a vanguard regiment, with battalion, company, platoon, and squad as the vanguard, stretched out for a length of ten kilometers.

It should be because within the French army's sphere of influence, the marching speed is quite fast, maintaining about 20 kilometers per hour. Epernay is more than 130 kilometers away from Paris. According to this marching speed, plus resting in the middle, the whole army will

The day is approaching. There are still two French infantry divisions ahead, so we can't lose Epernay in just one day, right?

Zhang Zuolin's judgment should be correct, but he did not expect that the German army was now taking advantage of the momentum of victory. On the contrary, the French army had low morale and was at a disadvantage in terms of strength. There was no danger to defend the Epernay area.

There is no way to be optimistic about the development of the war situation. Otherwise, Neville would have been so generous, and the special operations division would have been required to set off as soon as possible. When the special operations division set off from Paris, the German army had already begun artillery preparations.

The Battle of Verdun, which lasted for ten months in history, was no longer possible in this time and space. After Pétain took the initiative to retreat, more than 30,000 French troops who remained behind surrendered. This was the time when the German army was at its peak.

Judging from the results, Pétain's active retreat broke Ludendorff's plan to encircle and annihilate the French Second Army and preserved the French army's vitality. However, it also opened the door to Paris and exposed the flanks of Champagne, allowing the French army to

Said he was tired of coping.

At this point, the small place of Epernay becomes extremely important. Once it breaks through, the German army can drive straight in and head straight to Paris. At this time, the French army is still in the process of hurriedly adjusting and building a new line of defense.

What is needed is time. As a master of strategy and tactics, Ludendorff knew this very well and naturally would not give the French army too much time.

When the German army began to prepare for artillery fire, the two French divisions guarding Epernay, and even the French general headquarters, had not yet figured out who the enemy was. In fact, what appeared in Epernay was the elite Fifth Division of the German army.

A corps of the Army Group, followed by the main force of the Fifth Group, were coming, and the commander, Crown Prince William, had already arrived to command the front line.

The huge inertia of history appeared. Paris is the capital of France. Conquering this city will gain huge prestige for Crown Prince William. So at this time, Ludendorff pushed the Crown Prince to the front line.

When the war situation has developed to this point, it can be said that the German army can fight however they want, and the French army can only passively accept the attack. The key to this result is the assault group commanded by Bob. Although this is only an attempt, the attack range of the assault group

It’s not even a hundred kilometers away, but the effect is huge.

When the German army began to prepare artillery fire in Epernay, French reinforcements also arrived at Lavove, with a total of six infantry divisions before and after. Just as the French army was preparing to launch a battle to retake Lavove, Neville's emergency front line

Commander, ask the French army to defend on the spot, give up the plan to recapture Lavove, and just block the road leading to Reims.

It was actually very painful for Neville to make this decision, but he had no other choice. He only had so many troops, including six infantry divisions in Lavove, two in Epeinaiho, and others recently in Champagne.

They are still retreating. The Battle of the Somme has begun, and defending Paris has become the top priority. For Neville, who advocates offense, it is really painful to give up the attack. In other words, the key is whether Paris can be defended.

Depends on the defensive battle between Lavove and Épernay.

It should be said that Neville's order was very timely. Bob waited for his logistics troops and subsequent tanks. He had 350 active tanks on hand, as well as the full strength of three infantry divisions and three cavalry divisions. He was planning

In a counterattack, the plan was to defend with infantry. After repelling the French attack, tank troops and cavalry troops would immediately launch a counterattack.

Once this plan succeeded and defeated the six French infantry divisions in front of them, the French troops in Champagne would be too late to retreat even if they wanted to. Bob would pierce their buttocks and give them a beating.

For the French army in the European war situation in March 1916, the most critical thing was time. It took time to reorganize the Second Army, it took time to rebuild the Paris defense line, and it also took time to see whether the Battle of the Somme was effective.

It is obvious that Ludendorff will not give the French army time. It can be seen from Crown Prince Wilhelm to the front line of Epernay at one o'clock. What the German army has to do is to break through Epernay as quickly as possible, and then rush forward like a torrent.

Rushing into Paris. After completing the "Iron Fist Plan", Ludendorff launched the "Torrent" plan. The core of this plan was to use the German Fifth Group commanded by William as the main attack force to hit Paris.

Sun Zhen, the leading company commander, was not a student soldier in Wuhan. He joined the Tongmenghui in 1906. After graduating from Shaanxi Army Middle School, he was influenced by the popular Marshal Fang and ran from Xi'an to Wuhan to ask to join the Communist Army at that time. Because he was a student,

He was sent to Wuhu by the officer in charge of recruiting soldiers. He passed the examination at the Mainland University and was lucky enough to catch the last train for the first semester of the Mainland University.

Not many people may know about Sun Zhen, but many people must know about Qin Han, the son of Sun Zhen's nephew Sun Yuanliang.

As the captain of the leading company, Sun Zhen is very careful. He has been trying hard to maintain the advancing speed of the leading company and not let it go too fast. This made the French drivers who were driving very dissatisfied. Sun Zhen was sitting in the back seat of a car.

The front of the car kept asking the driver to drive slower. The French driver and the liaison officer responsible for leading the way were very dissatisfied.

Sun Zhen was also very dissatisfied. The order given by his superiors was to maintain a speed of 20 kilometers per hour so as not to cause the entire army to lose control of their march. The French guy had no intention of driving slower at all.

This will definitely not work. Sun Zhen secretly cursed in his heart: Immortals are stupid. He rolled his eyes and thought of a move. Suddenly he said to the liaison officer beside him: "Stop the car, I need to pee."

The driver had no choice but to stop the car. After Sun Zhen got down, he calmly delayed the car. The Frenchman was anxious, but he was not. His car was the backup vehicle of the whole company. He waited until the car of the vanguard battalion appeared in his sight before Sun Zhen got on it.

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Continuing on the road, the French liaison officer was so angry that he didn't know what to say. Sun Zhen knew that the words were not good. He didn't get angry with him and pretended not to see it. But something went wrong soon. The driver started to drive the car so fast.

Look at the car in front, there is no shadow anymore, Sun Zhen’s

A company was divided into three cars and moved forward. As soon as the front speed increased, the entire leading company was out of touch. The rear company had to catch up quickly. Sun Zhen took out his pistol as soon as his face turned cold and put it against the head of the French liaison officer.

Enter. The driver was so frightened that he braked quickly, and the French liaison officer's face turned pale with fright.

"What are you going to do?" the liaison officer asked angrily, and Sun Zhen said calmly: "Tell the driver to keep the speed at 20 kilometers per hour, otherwise I don't mind letting you be shot to death by the Germans."

Special warfare divisions are a group of daring guys. Sun Zhen stayed in the special warfare division for almost a year and was led astray.

Under gunpoint, the stunned liaison officer had no choice but to give in. Amid constant curses, the leading company slowed down.

When the special forces division rushed to the front line, thousands of miles away in Beijing, Marshal Fang had not eaten or slept well for several days. The changes in the war situation in Europe exceeded his understanding of history. Verdun was actually captured.

It's a group of fortresses.

This historical incident made Fang Jianxiong feel uneasy and anxious. The twenty-one infantry divisions and tank troops of the expeditionary force were all Fang Jianxiong's capital. Although they took advantage of the opportunity to participate in the war to arm the army, these twenty-one

When a division was hit in Europe, Fang Jianxiong was really on the verge of tears.

According to the original plan, the expeditionary force waited for some time after the battles of Verdun and the Somme began before making its debut. This way, the most brutal period of the meat grinder of Verdun and the early stage of the Battle of the Somme could be missed.

stage.

Unexpectedly, history was distorted by the early release of tanks and a small mistake by Marshal Fang (he gave Bob the small book, which mentioned blitzkrieg). Fang Jianxiong still underestimated the power of tanks and Bob's response to blitzkrieg.

After experiencing the benefits on the Eastern Front battlefield, and with the support of an outstanding person like Ludendorff, we achieved such a beautiful result.

Holding the latest telegram from the Army Group in his hand, Fang Jianxiong fell into deep thought.

It was noon on a spring day, and the branches in the yard were green. The area within a hundred meters with Fang Jianxiong's study as the core was quiet. People below had to be very careful when walking, for fear of disturbing the commander.

Fang Jianxiong has been staring at a huge map on the wall, as if he wants to see something? The geographical location of Europe and the balance of power between countries determine that this is a protracted tug-of-war. Release in advance is equivalent to parallel

In time and space, I don’t know if the light tanks after World War I were a good thing.

According to the intelligence coming back from Europe, Fang Jianxiong was extremely uneasy about whether Paris could be defended. Once Paris was not defended, the expeditionary force was likely to be used as a backstop. Foreigners are very skilled at doing such things, and Cai E must be reminded in time.

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Of course, Fang Jianxiong had no intention of questioning Cai E's execution of the orders of the French Army General Headquarters. He thought to himself that to clearly explain his thoughts to Cai E, he must first strengthen the investigation and fully understand the progress of the war situation.

On the French battlefield abroad, what was tested was the commanding ability of Cai E and Zhang Xiaohuai. Fang Jianxiong could only remind them of a general direction.

Lost in thought, Fang Jianxiong didn't notice at all that the door behind him opened and a slim figure came in.

The person who came in did not make a sound, but held his hands and stood quietly three steps away, silently watching the man's back. Fang Jianxiong stared at the map and said to himself: "This can't be a fueling tactic.

, the group army must be concentrated to have strength. Come and record the message."
Chapter completed!